EP45 Kirk Muyres - Mens 4s + Mixed Doubles Curling

This is the Empowered athlete podcast, episode 46. Today on the Empowered Athlete Podcast, we bring to you an athlete who plays a sport that is truly Canadian. It's curling. And we welcome Kirk Mayers, who plays mixed doubles and men's fours in this amazing sport that I have never tried and one day hope to be taught how to play by Kirk. Kurt is an expert. He's been a bronze medalist at worlds and mixed doubles. He's won a World cup event in that sport as well in that discipline. And in the men's fours, he's been to the Bryr. You all know the Breyer six times, representing Saskatchewan with his team there. He's just an incredible guy, down to earth. And this interview has some gold in it that young athletes need to hear in terms of skill acquisition and self improvement and the mental side of things. The pressure to shoot in this sport when everything is on the line at the end of a game is absolutely immense and incredible to watch. Before we get to the great interview though, I want to remind you that June is junk free. June in the 12:30 challenge that's running all year. 30 day challenges, one every single month of the year. Join us for this challenge where every day we're looking for you to remove one or two objects from your house. Don't throw them out, recycle them, sell them, donate them, clean up your space, pick an area in the house once a week to really get after it and give it a deep clean. You will feel amazing. Where you live will look better and hopefully those things that you're passing on will help some other people out as well. Join that in the show notes, check it out and also look for Kirk's foundation, the Do More Agriculture foundation there as well. Learn how you can get involved. So without further ado, let's get to the interview with Kirk Meyers.

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Empowered Athlete podcast. And as you know from the show intro, we are joined by Kirk Myers, mixed doubles curling specialist, but all around curler, all disciplines and an all around great guy. Thank you for making the time to join us on the show today.

Thanks for having me. You guys, this is, this is pretty neat. I'm among pretty special guests here, so I'm honored to be a part of it. Thanks for having me.

Yeah, we are excited to have you. We haven't had any curling athletes on, so we want to hear all about what you do. And I think that if, you know, some of our listeners aren't necessarily Canadian, Canadians are more familiar with curling, maybe some Europeans as well. But you will, you know, give us the behind the scenes kind of inside scoop. We'd love to hear all that stuff, but, you know, go, go back for us. Tell us a little bit about how you got going into curling. Were you in other sports first? Was there always a love for curling? What was it like for you?

You know, I got a lot of curlers, kind of seemed to get into it, high level curlers anyways, through their, their family and their parents. And my dad was a high level curler kind of through the 80s, was on one of the best teams in Canada. And of course, like many small boys, you want to be like your dad. So that's what got me into it. I just wanted to curl. I wanted to be like my dad. And he, after, he wanted to, he wanted to let me grow up a little bit before I got into it. But I think the story goes, I was throwing a temper tantrum on the kitchen floor when I was 7 because I wanted to go curling. And he finally gave in and took me out to it and, and really my love for it hasn't wavered since. I've played since I was 7. I quit hockey when I was 13 to focus a little more time on curling and I've been going at it hard since. And I played many other sports growing up. I played baseball, like I said, I played hockey, soccer. And then really I grew up in a town of about 200 kids in our school from K to 12. So we all had to play all sports, otherwise we couldn't field teams. So it was one of those, one of those stories that you kind of played all the sports growing up and, and you enjoyed it and you loved it and. But at the end of the day, when I graduated high school, really focused on curling from from there on out.

So the conversations at the dinner table revolve around strategy from a young age or did you talk about all kinds of things at dinner? Was it curling focused?

You know, it seems, it seems to be curling focus even to this day. It's, it seems every conversation we have with the family, it's based around curling. I play on my men's team, I play with my brother and my dad coaches us. We can't seem to get away from it that much. And it seems every time we get together we're talking about curling and doesn't seem to stray away from that too much. I kind of feel sorry for my mom sometimes, but she's been around it so long she now likes it too. It's kind of what we pride ourselves on, and we enjoy it and we love it and it brings our family together. So it's pretty neat.

That is awesome. So when you talk about your family, this is small town Saskatchewan. Is that right?

That's right, yeah. That's the hotbed of curling, that's for sure. It seems every small town has a curling rink and it's where everyone goes all winter. But yeah, I grew up in a town. The town I actually grew up in, I think has about 60 people in it. And then I went to school in a town about 10 minutes to the west, and it's got about 500 people in it. So we grew up in a small area of Saskatchewan.

And what was the town?

St. Gregor. So that my hometown is officially St. Gregor. I learned to curl in where my high school and school was in Munster. And then most of our groceries and most of my curling actually took place in Humboldt, Saskatchewan.

Wow. Wow. And then how many siblings do you have?

Just one. Just my brother. My older brother. So. And we've been curling together now for. We've played together when we were kids, and then a few years through juniors, we kind of went our separate ways for a little bit, actually played each other in the provincial final to go to our first. Go to our first national championship, which for curlers in Saskatchewan is a huge deal. I mean, we. We play some. Some players play their whole life for the opportunity to wear what we say is the green jacket. So the Saskatchewan green jacket at a national championship. And when my brother was 20 and I was 17, we played in the provincial junior final against each other for that first green jacket. And I remember that was a pretty crazy experience for our family. And he ended up winning. But I can't imagine how my mother felt. She must have been torn into pieces on who to cheer for. But looking back, it's all fond memories. And then now my brother and I, we played together for. I guess this is our eight or ninth year since we've been in men's or senior level play. So. Wow.

Okay. So between all those other sports, we're talking hockey and soccer and, you know, just everything else that you were. You're, you know, adding to the team volume. What was it about curling that really made you fall in love with it? Like, what was the thing that made you really want to keep pursuing it versus the other sports?

That's a really good question. I think as I've got older, I've started to recognize those things a lot more. And whereas it seemed when I was younger, it was more, you know, I just kind of. I just kind of went with things, and I necessarily didn't think a whole lot about why I was doing certain things. And I think. I think a lot of it at the time, honestly, was the fact that, you know, it was kind of a family legacy. You know, we were. We were curlers, and that's what we did, and that was what was going to be for me. And I never, ever got that feeling that I was pushed into it by my family by no means, or by my dad. It was just kind of something I was proud of our family to be a part of, and I wanted to continue that. So I think that might have been. And the other side of it is maybe good or bad, but I was better at it than other sports. I was never. I was never going to make it to the MLB or I was never going to make it to professional soccer, but I knew at a young age I had a really good chance to be really, really good and do something special in curling. So that was kind of why I stuck to it then. And now people ask me why I play and why I love it. And now the answer is easy. I love the feeling I get in big games, the pressure moments, the nerves that you get in big, huge curling games when everything's riding on that last rock and either you're throwing that rock or you're sweeping that rock. And those nerves that are flowing through your body, it's a feeling you don't get anywhere else in life. So it's pretty special to be able to get to experience that throughout the winter. And that's why I love it to this day. That's why I play now. It's for those feelings of those nerves that you get in those big moments.

So when you were little, you're younger, maybe between those ages of, I don't know, say seven to, and you're getting those pressure moments. And there. Because there's. There's so much accuracy involved and technique involved and then keeping a cool head, that mental focus. How. How did you manage it at those ages without. Without the meltdowns that would typically happen for that. That childlike mind, what. You know, what made you still like it, because that. That might be a time where that's a. For a kid, but, you know, there's a lot of. That seemed to be the thing that drew you, or maybe you could manage it better than the other. Your peers. Like, what was. What was different about you versus other people?

Yeah, that's a really good question. I. Again, I think it's A trial and error thing. I'm. It's hard to look back and remember those moments that well, but in my mind I'm thinking I probably handle it that well. It would have been the fight or flight feeling that came upon me. And you know, thinking back, I'm pretty sure the flight took over in a lot of instances. And I think at that time we were, I don't know, we were really a really good young curling team. So if we were playing other, you know, 12, 13 year old kids, we would end up beating up on them pretty good. And so we actually wouldn't end up having a lot of those pressure moments. And then, and then if, when we always played up, so we'd always play maybe the senior, senior teams so we'd get better. And then the expectation was we weren't going to win. So there was no pressure in those situations either. So, you know, I don't know exactly what I have been feeling back then, but my gut is telling me that I had to learn to enjoy that pressure, enjoy the nerves over the last 10 years. I think back then I probably wanted to get out of those situations more than you can imagine.

Yeah, well, success early helps though, you know, because then you're still riding on that high of winning and wanting to do the next thing and wanting to win again, like getting addicted to that winning feeling as well. So, you know, tell us what brought you into some of those young successes because you were Canadian junior champion in 2011. Is that when it was.

Yep, that's. That's right. So that was my first, call it my first Canadian jacket. My first time I got to represent Canada at a world championship. Coincidentally, that was also the first time I had won a green jacket at a Saskatchewan championship was that same year. And so it was a matter of really just kind of enjoying that ride because you obviously don't, don't get it a whole bunch. But I think, you know, going through those, those years before that, from age maybe 14 to 19, I, I think I, in, in Saskatchewan anyways, I just, you know, I believe I worked harder than anyone else. I, I never believed I was necessarily the most talented player. I certainly wasn't the most talented athlete obviously by the. I wasn't very good at baseball and the other sports I played, but I liked them. But I think kind of the work ethic because I love the game so much. I love going to the curling rink and throwing rocks and practicing for hours on end. I love going to Bonsfields and tournaments and just playing. So it didn't feel like work, but looking back, I think that's really what gave me a leg up on other competitors at that age. A lot of times throughout those years, people would throw together a team, they play in one or two Bon Spiels, they play maybe once a week in a league and that would be all they do for the year. Well, I, I would be on the ice every day, sometimes twice a day, throwing rocks for an hour, two hours. I'd be going to Bonsfields every week. And I think honestly that gave me a leg up on competition at that age and, and kind of allowed me to kind of propel myself into, into the senior level as well. And, and now the teams at the top of the game that I play against, everyone does it, everyone works hard. It's not really a differentiating factor, but it certainly helped me kind of rise through the junior ranks. Give it.

Given that massive amount of curling so young. Did you feel at any point, did you get burned out or feel that it was a little too much at any point, or did that hunger to just continual play and improve, stay constant throughout?

No, absolutely, I. Different phases throughout my career, I've definitely felt the burnout. I remember, I tell this story once in a while. I remember the time actually the year before I had won that Canadian championship. I was, I guess 18 years old. I'd moved to Saskatoon, so I call it where we come from. We moved to the city. I started going to school and I wasn't necessarily seeing the success that I wanted to see out of the game, I guess. And I just fully expected at that point to have been to a national championship and those things and I just wasn't seeing the success. And I thought maybe this is time I move on from the game. I experienced some other things in my life, maybe focused on school, focus on career, focused on friends and family. Because as you guys know, with any high performance athlete, a lot of those things kind of take a sidebar when you're doing.

Absolutely.

And so that was, that was, you know, I remember that was a distinct moment where I said, you know, I'm. I am going to take a break anyways. I don't necessarily know if I'd have been done at the time, but I was definitely burnt out. The years and years of all that training and practice and I think it's more even the obsession with it, it isn't necessarily going to the rink for an hour or two every day and going on the road every weekend. It's when you're sitting in your bed at night, and you're worried about, you know, something. Some part of your game, and you start obsessing about and you can't sleep, and it kind of creeps into your whole. Your whole life. It's not just those couple hours you spend at the rink. And I think that's really what caused a lot of the burnout for me at a young age when I didn't understand what that was.

Yeah, you didn't have. I was just gonna say you didn't have a tool or. Doesn't sound like you had the tools at that point to disconnect or turn off that running curling process in the back of your mind about various parts of your game and things.

Yeah, 100%. And. And quite frankly, I. Ralph Schonfeld is a. Is a sports psychologist that worked with us probably for the last seven or eight years. But at that time, I hadn't been. Hadn't been introduced to him yet. And these are all conversations we had in that time. And, I mean, he's a huge part of my development, but there was no one teaching me or helping me through those moments. And I was kind of felt like maybe I was on an island a little bit with some of that obsession that I did have and that, like you said, that inability to disconnect. So when I did meet Ralph and we started working through those things, it certainly became a lot easier.

So what are the tools you use now that are different so that you have more quality of life off the ice or you aren't spending. You can choose when to spend time to really focus technically, or obsess if you want to. But what are the tools you have now? Like, how do you. How does it. How does it stay out of the burnout zone?

Yep. I mean, I. I think it probably doesn't stay out of the burnout zone all the time. It's. It's kind of one of those things, the work in progress. For me, I wouldn't say I'm perfect at not obsessing over it, but some of the. One of the big ones I use is I try to allocate time in my life, so I use my calendar and those sort of things where I have time for curling and I have time for work and I have time for family, and I've time for friends, and I've time for relaxing and. And when I'm not in the curling work mode or curling mode, I shut it off. And if a mind slips back into that, I try to remind myself to move on. And kind of one of the one of the words I use is stay in my lane, you know, stay with what I'm focusing on now. Whatever is with another part of my life can wait. And so that. That's really one of the tools I use, is just allocating time more effectively. And. And another slogan that's really bode well for me over the years is. Is less is more. You know, it's about quality, not quantity. There would have been a time when I got obsessed with quantity of work, not the quality of work. So those are another kind of slogan that I use to kind of allow myself to disconnect, give myself the permission to disconnect and leave curling behind, because I know if I can let it go for a few hours, when I come back, I'll be a lot more refreshed, for sure.

Those are excellent and good mantras that are almost visual as well. So you can say them, but also put a visual portion to it as well. Or you could just go to Bali and disconnect that.

That doesn't hurt either. Except for a kid from St. Gregor isn't really good with Bali heat. I had a permit sweat on for two weeks, so it was nice to come back home, and it was a little cooler.

You got some good swast going.

Yeah, exactly.

Staying on mental tools. We'll try to erase that from our minds.

Yeah, we'll go back.

I got visual.

Yeah, for sure. I wanted to ask you, though, you. You already mentioned to us how it's the big moments, the nervous moments that really light your fire and spark you in the game. So let's talk about what tools you have in play in those moments of crucial games where. Because for me, watching curling, I see it as different. I'm a volleyball player. You know, in other sports, before the big moments, there isn't always a lot of time to think. You have eight seconds to serve the ball in volleyball, eight seconds. You've got, you know, you guys will be staring down a shot, debating which shot you're gonna make. And you have, you know, minutes where you're thinking about this shot. What tools do you have? What's going on your mind? How do you deal with that? How do you execute and perform?

Yeah, you know, that's obviously always a work in progress as well. But one of the things I've really learned about myself is when I can get excited and nervous is actually when I can perform really well. So some people need to kind of revert their mind and change what they're thinking about and go back to maybe thinking about what the ice is doing or what they need to accomplish. Whereas I really allow myself to feel the nerves. I really allow myself to feel the excitement. And I've learned that about myself. And quite frankly, it's what's helped me be very successful. I've learned that when I can feel those nerves and when I can encourage those nerves and let those nerves come into my body, I think it allows me to have a higher, higher focus ability. It allows my brain to kind of go into overdrive and get that next level of focus, that next level of precision that I need to be really good. So for me, it was just a matter of learning that I don't necessarily need to do much different. I have to allow those nerves to come in and allow that to be who I am right now and try not to overthink what needs to happen. I just started skipping this past season, and as a skip, the game rides on. You either make the last shot for the win, or you don't make the last shot and you lose. It's really that simple. And the first shot I had for the win this season, I got thinking in my head as I was going down the sheet to throw the draw. It was a really easy draw to the eight foot for the win. And I thought, oh, my goodness. This is what the thought in my head was. Oh, my goodness. I'm so nervous that I'm excited. So therefore, I am going to kick out of the hack harder than I think I'm going to because my nerves are pumping and I'm going to throw it heavy. So what I did, of course, was I overcompensated and I threw the rock. I don't. Probably halfway down the sheet or something. It wasn't even close. And after that moment, I realized that, you know, for me, it's not necessarily about changing what I'm doing or tricking my mind. It's about allowing my mind to be what it is and just allowing those nerves to come in, because that's going to help me focus and help me be more precise. So that was a work in progress, too. But that's. That's a. It's a pretty comforting thought when you think about when you're going to play to go to the Olympic Games or you're going to go play to maybe win an Olympic gold medal one day, to know that in those moments when you're going to be so nervous that you can't even believe it, then you know you're going to be successful in those moments. So it's a pretty comforting thing to.

Tell yourself, yeah, it's a really positive spin you're putting on it, thinking that, okay, you're recognizing the nervousness. So you're equating that to excitement and a good thing, and realizing you can use it as a catalyst to more focus, to perform better, instead of.

Yeah.

Treating it as a negative. I'm nervous. What can go wrong? It's that spin you're putting on it. Do you have any thoughts on that, Kari? I know you've.

Well, it's. It's a real. I agree completely. Like a real acceptance of your state. And when you have that acceptance of your state, there's not as much. As much second guessing. And. Yeah, that's. That's amazing. That brings me as well, based on what you said. Is. Is that what your goal is, is to push toward the Olympics? Like, what's. What's. You've done so much. You've. You've represented Saskatchewan over and over and over. Like 2014.

Five or six consecutive briars.

Yeah. 15, 16. Not 17. 18, 19.

You got to bring up 17. Hey, we gotta talk about that one, too.

There's kind of a glaring gap there.

We got beat by the better team that year we were. In curling, you usually score five or six games or five or six points to win a game. And if I think we'd have scored nine more points that game, we would have won the final. So we had a long ways to go.

Wow. So.

Is this what you're going for? Like this? Are you gonna keep going until you reach that ultimate goal? Because there's a longer lifespan or playing span for curler than there are for some sports.

And, you know, you can kind of.

Mix it in as well with other aspects of your life versus living abroad or some of the other demands that other sports have. So you've got the opportunity for a career longevity and also having kind of some balance with the rest of your life. Are you finding that, or do you feel like it's still all consuming? Like, what is it like for you? I've worked with other curlers in Manitoba, and, you know, one of them was a lawyer, tried to balance that for quite some time, but then ended up taking a leave for a period of time because it was just the curling was all consuming. Some other curlers I worked with, they had other businesses or jobs. But what is it like for you? Like, is it. How do you balance your life and then what is it looking like for what you want for your curling goals? If that looks like the Olympics, Yeah.

And, I mean, the balance is tough, but I mean, there's a lot. We're busy, we're on the road about 100 days a year. You can make some money at the game, but most people don't really make a lot or, or don't make enough that you can really count on it. So we're definitely working and we're definitely competing at the same time, but depending on how you look at that, it's one of those things that's kind of nice too. When curling's over, just like all other sports, we're going to need something to fall back on, and as Paul may know, you may not have that in a lot of other sports. The rower that's been training for 12 hours a day for the last 10 years and also retires, he doesn't have a career to fall back on. So where curling is nice, we can, we can pursue our goals on the ice, but we can also kind of build a career out. So when, so when that curling's over, we can build a life, you know, with a career as well. So the demands are high for us to do both of those, but I don't think I'd trade it for other sports.

What's your side job?

I'm a mortgage broker, actually, which works really well with curling too, because I can do a lot of work from the road and those sort of things. So it's nice that I do have a business that allows me to do that and I'm self employed. But it's certainly the better side of it than not having another career until the age of 30 and then not having much to fall back on when your sporting life is over.

So my side job is strength and conditioning, aside from podcasting. So on the physical side of things, a lot of people don't give the kind of respect that curlers might, should maybe draw because they see curling as maybe one of the easier sports. There's not a huge demand, but the thing I learned when I was working with curlers a number of years ago was just how long the entire weekends were when they were competing. The demand for they might be 8, 10 hour days of just this intense focus, the kind of drain that would put on people physically and mentally. And it used to be this kind of game that everybody's drinking afterwards and hitting the food canteen and that kind of thing. But now it's more of an understanding of the need to be fresh and focused the next day, the need to stay relatively in shape and that kind of thing. What's your physical side of preparation for your game and how does that affect it?

Yeah, absolutely. The curling's totally changed in probably the last 10 years. It seems curlers still find time to have a beer or two, but it's usually when they're out of the event. So whether they've won it or they've lost out, there's still that camaraderie and curling among all the teams and players, which is really neat and something that's really special, I think, to our sport. But, but yeah, the, the training level has skyrocketed in the last 10 years and I mean, it's just, just for what you said there, we could be on the ice for, you know, we could be playing three games a day, 10 end games, which are about three hours, but the practice starts about an hour before the game. So we'd have three games a day, four hours a game. So we'd be on the ice for 12 hours a day and you'd be walking up and back all day and then you'd be sweeping at 30 second intervals as hard as you can with, like you said, with that intense focus. So, I mean, the demand on curlers is huge. It's a lot more than people would think watching the game or expect. So we spend, we spend every day we're in the gym, we're working with trainers, that sort of thing. We have one in Saskatoon we work with here and then the nutrition side as well. We probably don't focus as much on the nutrition as we should, but we do work with a nutritionist that kind of sets up meal planning and times to eat and what to eat when we're on the road, as well as kind of learning what our body needs when we're in that preparation phase at home too. So people don't expect it out of curlers, but it's absolutely a piece of the puzzle that has been added to the game in the last 10 years and, and it's becoming more and more of a focus for players, it seems, as we go here.

Do you eat differently on the road versus at home, like most people struggle with in their careers and whatnot? What's it like for you?

Yeah, it's. Well, my kryptonite is potato chips. I love them. And at home I allow myself to eat way more than I should. Way more than I should. And on the road I'm actually quite good with not giving into that impulse. But on the road it's a lot tougher to eat. Right. I guess you can say it just. Restaurant food just seems to have a lot of salt and butter and sugar in it and that sort of thing. But we do okay. What we usually do is the moment we show up at our hotel, we head to the nearest grocery store, we get fruits and vegetables and a few snacks for the week that kind of hold us over. So that seems to help us really good, is just kind of taking that time to, to get some of the, you know, the, the groceries on the outside of the, the grocery store for our room so we can snack on them instead of, you know, heading, heading to the, heading to the hotel restaurant and eating some french fries or whatever.

Yeah, the canteen. The dreaded canteen.

Isn't that the truth?

Seriously? Okay, so you are now tell us describe to listeners who may not know a lot about curling, some of the different realms of curling. So you have been in mixed doubles with a partner for quite some time.

Yeah. So there's kind of, there's a four person curling game which is four men or four women. And then there's now the new discipline called mixed doubles. It started probably about 12 years ago, but it's first got instituted into the Olympic games this past Olympics in South Korea. And so obviously I've been playing the four person discipline forever since I was, since I was whatever, seven years old. And then, and then I've been lucky enough now to play in like we said, five, five briars for Saskatchewan. And then just so happens last year my partners, which is Laura Walker, her husband, plays with the Brad Gushu team and they had won the briar. And the briar. Winning the briar, they had to go represent Canada at the world championships. And the, the world championships conflicted with the mixed doubles national championship. So Laura had asked me to play. It was my second event ever playing mixed doubles. And I said, what the hell, I'll go play and have some fun. Lo and behold, we ended up winning it. So that was my second Canadian championship. So I can't exactly say I put a lot. I paid my dues in the mixed doubles discipline, but we ended up winning that. And then we got to represent Canada at the world championships and we ended up winning the bronze medal at the world championships. And we've kind of spilled that over into this season. We stayed partners and we were lucky enough to get gold and a silver at two of the four World cup of curling. That kind of started up this year as well in the mixed doubles discipline. So there's, there's kind of a few different leagues that curling falls under. There's the World cup of curling. There's the Breyer and the Scott Turner hearts kind of play down system that a lot of people see on TSN on tv. And then there's the grand slam of curling as well, which is the men's and women's discipline called the professional tour in Canada as well. So we play on all those and it makes for a busy season. But we're, we're kind of traveling around playing on all those tours.

And in terms of the Olympics, what do you see as your. Are you going for both options, trying to qualify right now? Are you leaning towards one or the other?

Yeah, I am definitely playing for both. Most, I would say 99 of curlers kind of have their men's team or women's team and the mixed doubles partner. That's just kind of the way it go, the way it's kind of, I don't know, the way it's played out here in Canada. And So I am 100% going for both. Realistically at this time, with the Olympics being three years away, I would say I have a better chance in the mixed doubles discipline. I mean, I've won the Canadian championship. We're ranked two or three in Canada right now, whereas in the men's discipline, I think we're ranked 10th in Canada, and we've never won the Canadian championship. So, I mean, just realistically looking at it from the outside, looking in the mixed doubles would seem like the more likely possibility. But that being said, three years is a long ways away. And I can tell you a lot of teams that may or may have won the Olympics in the past or represented Canada at the Olympics in the past, you know, five editions of it. Since it's been a metal sport, there would have been a few teams in there that you would have never given a sniff to three years before. So you just never know. And that's what kind of keeps you going every day is that possibility that it just might happen. That's why you go to the rink.

So what's the longest you've been away from the rink? Like this has been. You've been doing this for so long. What's the longest you've been away from the rink?

You know, luckily the summers are pretty, pretty disconnected, generally speaking. I'm just trying to think probably the longest would be three months. Probably, probably three months in my life. Realistically, there's, there's a summer curling camp that gets run in Saskatchewan every, every July. So that, that kind of throws a wrench in it. I've always kind of made time to go there Whether I was in the curling camp or I'd go there and throw a few rocks when the ice is available, just kind of that opportunity to go, you know, get. Go get some practice in.

So it's great to have that break, though, too.

Oh, it's huge. I mean, I'm starting to learn and appreciate the break more than ever, too. Is. Is that that whole concept that less is more concept when it's amazing how much more, how much better and how much more you can get out of things in life when you do step back and take a break and disconnect and then come back to it? When you're refreshed, you are able to be very powerful. But when you kind of keep hammering at that same wall and not having a lot of success and not taking a step back, it seems like you sometimes just start spinning your wheels. So I'm starting. I think as I get older, I'm really starting to really respect the fact of a break is really powerful in your development.

Well, on that note of development, you conveyed to us and kind of some questions we asked ahead of time that you went through a process with your shot making and your skill level at certain shots where.

I don't.

I don't know if you're overly critical of yourself, but you thought of yourself as not good at certain types of shots in the game, right?

For lack of a better word? You bet. Yeah.

But then through. Well, why don't you just tell us about your realization of that, how you addressed it and how it relates to what you just said about less is more.

Yeah. If I must admit, I was answering these questions on a beach, in a beach in Bali, Paul, so you can't hold me to them too much, but I think I'm on the right track here, so. But yeah, I think, you know, when you would. When you kind of recognize you maybe aren't where you need to be on certain shots and, and you kind of. And throughout a lot of my career, you know, maybe I accepted that, that I wasn't good enough at that shot, and that's just who I am, and it was never going to get any better. And then, then that leads into thoughts of I'm not good enough. I'm never going to be, you know, the Olympic gold medalist. I'm never going to win the briar because I can't make this shot, this certain shot. And when I really realized that it's just a matter of. It's not that I'm not good at that shot, it's just I Don't practice it enough. And I think what I saw kind of growing up, too, is because I love going to the rink and I love throwing rocks and love practicing, but I love to have success when I'm practicing. So I go to the rink and I throw shots that I was really good at, and I continue to throw those shots because it was fun. And. And so then what I. What I realized was all I needed to really do is realize the shots that maybe I wasn't good enough at. I just needed to practice them more. And so what I do is after every weekend, I'd write down two or three shots that I need to be better at. The next week, I'd go and practice those almost exclusively. And lo and behold, the following weekend, I was way better at those shots. And that was kind of the moment I really kind of settled into my growth mindset instead of the limiting mindset that maybe I was accustomed to growing up. You know, it wasn't that I was good enough. It was that I wasn't good enough yet. And if I allow myself the opportunity to continue to grow and continue to get better at the things I'm not good at, I will get better at them and I'll slowly grow into the kind of the player I want to be. Obviously, recognizing that I probably will never get to the player I want to be. But that's kind of the fun of it, is kind of working through those things.

That's gold. Because for younger athletes, to hear what you just said, the last two minutes is invaluable in that the way you describe yourself as a young player, in the way I'd say all of us are, in that you want to get in the gym, you want to have fun, so you go to the things that are most fun, which are the things you're good at, and then realizing that to improve. Okay, you know, it's. It's that disciplined practice of focusing on the weaknesses. And obviously that's where a good coach can come into play to steer a young player in terms of working on those things. But, yeah, just the. That. That instant gratification of hitting your favorite shot on the floor, on the basketball court that you're going to. Okay, that's great, but it's not going to help you in the game when that spot's not available. And, yeah, your recognition of that process is awesome.

Yeah, we all love to feel good, so we want to keep doing the things that make us feel good, but that's not what's going to get us better.

Yep. No, you're exactly right. And I just got done reading a book a little while ago. I don't. You may as may have read it. It's called Grit.

Yeah, it's a great one. Yeah, she's fantastic.

Yes. And when they talked about how really this focused practice you need and how actually humans are probably only capable, I don't remember the exact details, don't quote me on it, but say an hour a day of this high intensity focused practice we need, and that was another moment that I realized with this growth mindset that I'm cultivating to also allow myself to let go. Because anything over top of that hour of really intense focused practice is probably a lot of it's wasted. So why am I fretting about these things as well? So that was kind of a. A mind shifter as well for myself.

Yeah, it's the. It's the. I call it junk miles and I apply that term.

I like that.

Yeah. Apply it to whether it's a runner. It's. That's where the term come from, comes from is running, is don't just keep putting in junk miles that aren't going to apply or improve what you really want to improve. You know, if you need to put in volume, that's fine, but still make sure that volume is quality, not just junk miles. So, yeah, that. And then the other thing that happens that I've coached for years is training the weak, making the weakness become your favorite thing to work. And Paul's heard me say this countless times, just whether it's an athlete that has an injury or that weakness side, but that becomes their favorite thing to work, whether they start with that side or do extra reps with that side, because that's really the definition of how good that person is at whatever they're doing. So for you, that poor shot, whatever the poor shot was, that is the definition of you as a curler, meaning you're only as good as your worst shot because you have to be that well rounded because that's always going to be the thing that gets you. So if you can elevate the thing that's your weakest level, then you're going to elevate everything overall.

Yep. No, I really like that. Really like that.

So you've got, you know, a ways to go to really know whether you're in the running for the Olympics. There's a lot on your plate, but in looking at what you've experienced so far, and you've got a solid the rest of the quad to really work towards the Olympics. But looking back, what has been your toughest challenge thus far? What has been the toughest thing you've had to overcome?

That's a good question. I think the toughest thing I've had to overcome is probably that whole. The within. Within the curling is that whole burnout and that. That feeling of, is it worth it? And sometimes I think. Sometimes I think it probably happens to all athletes, really, at some level, but it's. It's. Are we. Are we going down the right path here and are we doing the right things in terms of, you know, do I. Do I want to continue with the curling, or do I want to start the next career, or do I want to do something else with my life or. And it usually comes kind of when you're, you know, six months into the season and you're sick of going on the road and you don't want to leave your family anymore, or maybe it's when you had a really bad loss or you lost to maybe somebody you shouldn't. You think you shouldn't lose to, and you go, what am I doing here? Like, this is never going to pan out for me. And. And it's really. You know, and it's really kind of getting above and over those. Those moments and realizing why you do it. And. And that's been quite a work in progress for me, actually, is finding my why. You know, I've always just curled. I've always done it since I was 7 years old. Now I'm 28. I have literally curled my whole life, and there's never been, why am I doing it? What am I doing it for? And so I've really been really trying to challenge myself and understanding what my why is in the game and why I love it and why I'm pursuing this goal. And quite frankly, that's been a huge challenge for me and something I'm still working towards. And. And, you know, I don't know if I have the right answer to it necessarily all the time. And I think a lot of athletes would resonate with that in some capacity. So that's a challenge I'm trying to work through right now is finding my why and finding why I love it. And, you know, I've had a few weeks off now, and of course, I wake up this morning and go, I could really use a practice session. I want to go back to the ring. So I know I want to do it, but why? And that's a question I'm asking myself kind of on a daily basis, and I'm kind Of searching my soul for that answer.

Well, there's a couple of things there. One, you know, it really sounds like you have a love of the pursuit of excellence, and that really drives you. But secondly, like, everybody doesn't matter what they're in. Everybody who has really continued to pursue the hard things ends up feeling that burnout. And there's something that we, we say in sport and all sorts of realms, and that's that you don't. You can't quit on a bad day. So you gotta, you gotta wait till you ride that wave that's, you know, this crappy phase or whatever it is, and wait till that. That settles down and then reassess. Is this something I really want to step away from? When you're in a better state or it's a better day, or you're feeling better, but you can't just quit on a bad day. Everybody's going to have a bad day. It doesn't matter what it is. There's going to be bad days. But that's not when you make your major decisions. Your major decisions can only come at a time when you're in a better state. And that burnout, it comes with the pursuit of some of the toughest. You're at the highest level of what you do, and so then you are ripe for extreme, experiencing those tough feelings. The burnout, the tough days, the hardest. You're going to come up your. Against your brain all the time because you're growing so much. So, yeah, it's. It's that pursuit of excellence that it sounds like you're, you're really, you've somehow fallen in love with because it's such a technical sport that you're in.

Yeah, I really like, I really like what you say. You can't quit on a bad day. If on a good day you're ready to shut it down, that's the time to do it. But that's a really good way of thinking about it. I like that.

So go ahead, Paul.

Well, just on the idea of why, just wanted to ask, away from the rink, one of your whys is the Do More Agriculture Foundation. I was wondering if you could tell us about that.

Yeah, that. That actually stemmed out of curling as well. So I'll start at the beginning with this one. So there's what we call is. They do a men and a women of curling calendar every year. So one year it'll be the women of curling, and the next year will be a men of curling calendar. And then they sell these calendars for charity and Each calendar, each model in the calendar can put their money towards any charity they like. And I grew up, I grew up on the farm, I worked in the agriculture industry. A lot of our sponsors come from the agriculture industry and I'm just really connected in that, in that industry, in that world. And a couple of my fellow co founders, Kim Keller and Leslie Kelly are very, we're very vocal on the need that agriculture really hasn't had someone help their farmers and their industry in terms of the mental health. And so I reached out to them originally, I said, hey, I'm doing this man of curling calendar. I would like to give my proceeds to mental health and agriculture cause. And they said there was really nothing available for farmers to fall back on to help them. And a lot of times a lot of people in the agriculture industry are isolated. They're 12 hours from any major center. They spend long, long hours in tractors without talking to anyone. A lot of them are running three, four fifth generation farms and they feel the pressure of keeping the family farm alive for their, you know, their, their, their relatives that have passed on. And so there's a lot of pressure on, a lot of pressure on these farmers and they had nowhere to go for help as well as any industry, as well as anybody in our society. But there was no one specifically for farmers to get help with. So we, we ended up starting the, the foundation and it's going great. We now have a full time employee running the foundation and the industry's really gotten around the Do More Agriculture foundation as well as mental health and agriculture. It's been a crazy shift in the last couple of years with that. I'm pretty proud to be a part of it, that's for sure.

That's incredible.

That's, that's fantastic. Do you think that your, the coaching you've had from your sports psych, do you think that that has helped you and all the mindset work you've had to do for your excellence in sports? Do you think that that's influenced you wanting to do this and understanding the mental importance for people in agriculture?

Yeah, I think so. I think mental health has really been a journey for myself as well as most people in our society these days. So I think, you know, kind of starting to learn my mind and you know, kind of starting to feel how it kind of goes and moves and, and learns and navigates. I realized that that might be something that other people, you know, can benefit from. So I think that that certainly was the reason I got into it as well.

Is that something you want to have as your legacy that lives on beyond your curling career something that is always there and goes on maybe longer than you do.

You know, I haven't thought about it like that, Kerry. Certainly I hope it does. I've been lucky. Like I said, Kim Keller, Leslie Kelly and Himanshu Singh are the other three co founders. They have done so much work. I must admit, I haven't done as much as I should have, or maybe not nearly as much as them anyways, because I've just been on the road so much. And so I don't think necessarily that is necessarily going to be my legacy, but I hope it lives on forever and changes the face of agriculture and hopefully changes the face of our. Our society as a whole. And I think we've seen a movement with mental health in the last few years, and it's pretty exciting.

That's really amazing.

Yeah.

Well, you can keep being the pretty face on the calendar though, too.

I'll take that if that could be my legacy, because I don't know, about 45. I don't think they're gonna want me on there anymore.

Hey, now, watch what you say about age.

Oh, boy. I'll get myself in trouble.

No, it's all good. Okay, so let's wrap up with a few things for young and up and coming curlers in the sport. What do you. What little bits of advice or little tidbit might you want to pass on to them?

You know, find what you love and do it. If that's curling, just, just, you know, go with it. What I told to a young curler a few years ago, she was just getting out of junior. She had an amazing junior career. She had represented Canada at the World Junior Championships, getting the bronze medal. And she said, you know, what advice do you have for me? I said, you know, take your time. She said. I said, you don't necessarily need to go and win the Scott Tournament at Hearts, which is the Ladies National Championship tomorrow. Curlers peak at about the age 35, so she's got 15 years to reach her peak, presumably. So take your time, enjoy life, you know, enjoy going to school, enjoy seeing the world, if that's what you. You want to do. Enjoy, you know, spending time with your family and friends. You can always get into curling and you can always grow your curling career as you kind of progress through your life. So for curlers, young curlers, that's the one thing is be patient. It's something I wasn't patient, and I guess maybe it's not a regret of Mine. But it's certainly something that I look back on and maybe think that maybe I should have been or could have been. So I think that probably resonates with most things in life is. Is just be patient, accept where you're at, enjoy where you're at, but kind of work every day to get a little bit better.

Nice. Nice for you personally. Do you want to or be the best?

Ooh, that's a good one. I'd like to say I want to do my best, but I think there's an element in me, one that wants to be the best. I feel like do your best is kind of the political answer or the right answer, but I do. I want to be the best. I want to, you know, be on the top of the podium when I go play. And maybe that's. That's the wrong way to look at it, but I guess being honest with yourself is the most important thing.

Oh. It tends to be the competitive nature in the top in sport, that's for sure. We see that all the time. And is there something that might be interesting about you that you can share with people that most people may not know about you?

Hmm. I. I don't know if most people necessarily don't know this about me, but I. A passion of mine is like. Is. I'm gonna say it's small business. I love. If I. If I want to have a really engaging conversation with someone, it tends to be about curling or it tends to be about a small business they own, run, or have been a part of in the past. So not too exactly sure why I love that so much, but I love to hear people's stories and how they grew businesses and kind of where they're at in their. In their small businesses. So that's. That's definitely a little. A little love of mine.

Does that make you a Shark Tank fan, then?

You know, I used to. I don't. Dragon's Den and Shark Tank were the. Were the shows I used to watch all the time. I don't anymore, I must admit, but I did love those shows.

Well, we'll have a good small business conversation at some point there.

Right on. I like it.

So just some fast little questions about you personally. We know you love chips. Are there any other favorite foods?

Hold on. What flavor of chips? I have to say that for Christmas, I was given a bag from Kari of black truffle seasoned potato chips that were out of this world.

That makes you sound like a chip snob right there. You just became a truffle. Right.

But Kirk, I'm like you. I, I. If I have a weakness, it's for salty. And chips are really tough to resist, so I. We don't really have them in the house.

Because you hoarded those.

Yeah, I know.

Three months, three mouses sat there collecting dust.

We didn't want to spoil the treat.

Yeah, I don't know. I just wanted to really savor them. So what's your. What's your favorite flavor of chip?

Oh, anything. Miss Vicky's. That is my go to. That is. I could live off Miss Vicky's good kettle style.

For sure.

All the way.

Okay, now, what do you eat besides chips, you guys?

I do mix in some vegetables and some chicken once in a while.

Nice.

Nice.

Okay, dessert. I love dessert. So what's your favorite dessert?

I like a nice. A good cheesecake. Like, even just a plain cheesecake or maybe a blueberry cheesecake. Something like that, I think would be my pick.

Nice. Nice. Okay, what about favorite movie?

Are there any curling? There is a movie called Men with Brooms. Have you guys ever heard of Men with Brooms?

I have not.

It's actually not bad. Like, Leslie Nielsen is in it, and, oh, Jesus, there's another quite big Canadian actor that kind of stars in it. I forget his name. But anyway, it's not bad. It's actually a pretty decent movie. But that's not my favorite movie. I'm gonna go with Dumb and Dumber. I watched that on the plane.

Oh, my gosh, I have so many lines from that. So you're saying there's a chance I.

Could live off their lines? They're so good, right?

That's right. Love that movie. And what about. Are there. Do you have a favorite book or a book you'd recommend?

You know, Grit? I think just because I read it recently, I'm gonna say Grit would be a good one. I would recommend Grit. I'm gonna go with that.

Okay. And then what about. What else? So when you're not curling and you're not working and you're not in Bali, what. What do you like to do? I make it sound like you go to Bali.

Just once. Just once, I swear. You know, honestly, I hang out with my partner, Claire. We like to, you know, just kind of. She's the one that pushes me to get lots of exercise. So we golf, we hike, we walk, those sort of things. We like to enjoy good food and maybe a drink. But honestly, that's kind of what keeps me busy. Between work and curling, there's not a lot of extra time, and the Extra time I have, I like to spend it with Claire. So that's kind of what I do.

That's great. That's great. And then one last question here. Just of your favorite things. What about music do. I mean, I'm thinking of curling a little bit differently than other sports. You know, a lot of athletes get their pump up tunes right before a match or even workouts, that kind of thing. Do you do that? Do you have favorite music that you kind of use to get you in the right mental state?

I do actually. I do listen to. I do listen to a lot of music before I play. It's that same thing is I found I play better when I'm kind of jacked up and excited. So I use music quite often before games to get pumped up. But in terms of like a genre or like a band I use, it's like flavor of the week for me. I. My, my playlist is a complete schmazzle of every kind of music, whether it's heavy rock, metal, country, pop, all of it, rap. So I listen to anything that kind of. This feels good on me at that moment. So I can't exactly give you an exact one, but probably a little more country than anything.

There you go. Well, that's Saskatchewan, right? Middle of the country.

That's right. There you go.

That's all good. Well, I think that's. Is there anything else you want to add before we wrap up?

No. That's awesome. I appreciate you guys having me. That was a load of fun.

Hey, one quick question.

So great.

One last one. Where can people find out more about the Do More Agriculture foundation? If they want to contribute or get involved in some way?

You bet. You can go to Do More Ag. That's the website. And then we're also on Twitter, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. More Ag. So you can check us out on any three of those as well as the website and you can kind of see what we got going on and what we're kind of do what we're trying to do throughout Canada and check it out. Yeah, thank you.

And then what about your people? To reach you personally, you have an Instagram handle? A Twitter handle?

Yeah, Instagram. Twitter and Facebook, same thing. On Instagram I'm Kay Myers and on Twitter I'm Kirk Myers. And then our curling team is Myers Curling on Twitter and Instagram is Myers Curling. And Facebook is Myers Curling as well. So you can check that on there.

And that's spelled M U Y R E S. Is that right?

Yeah, you nailed it.

Okay. Because when people hear Myers, they may be spelling it differently. So I want to make sure they can find you.

Yes, we nail it.

Especially if they need a mortgage.

That's right.

There you go.

Yeah, give me a call.

So much, so much. All in one person. So we really appreciate having you on and, and this has been just a lot of fun. We're going to have to visit you in Saskatchewan one of these days and yeah, we'll, we'll keep an eye on, on what's happening and all your success.

Awesome. Well, thanks for having me, you guys. It's been a blast.

Hey everyone, thank you so much for listening to today's show. To keep this train rolling, to keep the podcast going, we need your feedback, your love. Share this podcast. Let your friends, family, athletes, coaches that you're involved with know about the show. Reach out to us at any time@pdpowerconditioning.com with your feedback of people you'd like us to interview and your thoughts about what we are talking about on the podcast. Wherever you are listening, have a fantastic day and thanks again for joining us.